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Chelodina
This large and diverse genus of long-necked Chelid turtles has had a complicated nomenclatural history. Although in the past the following have been considered separate genera and prior to that all the same, they are now considered sub-genera of the one genus. Chelodina is an ancient group of Chelid turtles native to Australia, New Guinea and the island of Rote Island of the Indonesian archepeligo. The turtles within this subgenus are small to medium sized, with oval shaped carapace. They are side-necked turtles, meaning they tuck their head partially around the side of their body when threatened instead of directly backwards. Macrochelodina represents those species that have often been termed the Chelodina B group, or thick necked snake neck turtles. The sub-genus was described in 1985 by Wells & Wellington (as a new genus) but was not recognized until recently when it was shown that the name was valid. As such they are a side-neck turtle of the family Chelidae with extremely long necks and long flattened heads. They are specialist fish eaters using a strike and gape mode of feeding. They are medium to large species with the largest Chelodina M. expansa reaching shell lengths of some 45 cm.Macrochelodina expansa (Grey, 1856) - Broad-Shelled Turtle The first fossils (C. M. alanrixi) are known from Queensland from the Eocene period (Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001)Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001: Eocene chelid turtles from Redbank Plains, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Geodiversitas: Vol. 23, #1, pp. 41-79. Macrodiremys is a monotypic genus recently split off from the rest of the Chelodina. Its sole member is the enigmatic Chelodina Macrodiremys colliei from Western Australia. Taxonomy Current taxonomy follows that of Georges & Thomson, 2010Georges, A. & Thomson, S. 2010. Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species. Zootaxa 2496: 1–37. Subgenus: Chelodina Fitzinger, 1826 * Chelodina C. canni (McCord & Thomson, 2002) * Chelodina C. longicollis (Shaw, 1794) * Chelodina C. mccordi (Rhodin, 1994) * Chelodina C. novaeguineae (Boulenger, 1888) * Chelodina C. reimanni (Philippen and Grossmann, 1990) * Chelodina C. pritchardi (Rhodin, 1994) * Chelodina C. steindachneri (Siebenrock, 1914) Subgenus: Macrochelodina Wells & Wellington, 1985Wells, R.W. and Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the amphibia and reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series. 1:1-61. * Chelodina M. alanrixi (fossil) * Chelodina M. insculpta (fossil) * Chelodina M. burrungandjii (Thomson, Kennett & Georges, 2000)Thomson S., Kennett R. and Georges A. (2000). [http://www.carettochelys.com/pdf-library/thomson_et_al_2000.pdf A new species of long necked turtle (Chelidae:Chelodina) from the sandstone plateau of Arnhem Land, Northern Australia.] Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3:675-685. * Chelodina M. expansa (Gray, 1857) * Chelodina M. parkeri (Rhodin and Mittermeier, 1976) * Chelodina M. rugosa (Ogilby, 1890)Ogilby, J.B. 1890. Description of a new Australian tortoise. Records of the Australian Museum 1:56-59. Subgenus: Macrodiremys (McCord & Joseph-Uoni 2007)McCord, W.P. & Joseph-Uoni, M., 2007, A New Genus of Australian Longneck Turtle (Testudines: Chelidae) and a New Species of Macrochelodina from the Kimberley Region of Western Australia (Australia. Reptilia, 31, 56–64. * Chelodina M. colliei (Gray, 1841) References Category:Pleurodira Category:Chelidae Category:Chelodininae